TPSA sees Polish telco market tumbling further in 2013

WARSAW

WARSAW France Telecom's Polish unit TPSA expects its home telecoms market, which it dominates, to shrink by over seven percent next year because of economic woes and further regulatory cuts in mobile charges, its top executive said.

TPSA, the former state monopolist, already slashed its 2012 outlook and future dividend payout last month due to economic factors and aggressive competitors, dragging its shares to levels unseen in nine years.

In his first interview since the profit warning, Chief Executive Maciej Witucki told Reuters the cuts in intercharge fees among mobile operators - the so-called mobile termination rates (MTRs) - would weigh most on the market in 2013.

"The value of the market will fall also next year," Witucki said. "The MTR cut alone will lower the value of the 30-billion zloty ($9.4 billion) market by 2 billion. Second, further price cuts are possible, especially in the voice segment."